A Week In South West Ireland (6/8)

 

These pictures were touring around the South West coast of Ireland in October 2004.

  

 

 

Around midday we drove down a narrow lane to Glenleam House, historically home of the Knights of Kerry, and decided to walk around the subtropical gardens with their extensive tree fern collections.

First we walked along the lower level of the garden and continued along the footpath to the nearby lighthouse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was an exciting variety of plants here of striking appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mild climate allows the Tree Ferns to grow successfully in the garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought this waterfall feature was very attractive and I would like something similar in my garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After spending rather longer here than expected we had another picnic with items from the Bantry health food shop with delightful views across the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About 4 o'clock we drove up, via the now derelict church where the house’s owners – the Fitzgeralds - were buried, up the hills to the Valentia slate mine.

 

 

 

 

 

The guide book and some of the signs lead you to believe that slate mining here was primarily a Victorian occupation and little has happened here since a rockfall closed the mine in 1911.

However the noise coming from the cavern made us think otherwise and on further investigation we found that the quarry was reopened by Valencia Slate Ltd, a company formed in 1998, which uses modern methods to extract the slate.

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